Democracy could be seen as a rational method to elect our leaders. However, a more cynical Girardian interpretation could be that:Elections are a ritual through which we come together to express our frustration towards the current administration. A cathartic symbolic sacrifice of old leaders, similar in spirit to the tribal sacrifices of our past.ex: In the 2020, one could say Trump lost the election more than Biden won them.

Democracy as a cathartic ritual

Starting from lecture IV, we will move away from psychology and into Girard’s history, beginning with the very first human societies. In times of internal turmoil, these early societies would converge on an innocent victim, attribute to him all the blame, murder this scapegoat in a brutal killing, and achieve peace through violent catharsis. These founding murders gave rise to institutions, cultures, and even gods themselves. Far are we from the comfort of social contracts. Girard’s unsettling conclusion is that peace is built on the corpses of innocent victims. Worldly order demands violence and deceit. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:04:16 The Trojan War and Reciprocal Violence 00:13:51 Oedipus and the Scapegoat Mechanism 00:15:23 Step One: Mimetic Contagion 00:25:06 Step Two: Founding Murder 00:29:22 Consensus, Deceit, and Catharsis 00:36:04 Three Marks of the Victim 00:41:18 Step Three: Divinization 00:46:30 A Revaluation of Values 00:51:26 Step Four: Institutionalization 01:03:33 The Violent Foundations of Society 01:06:39 The Hymn of Purusha 1:10:20 The Founding of Rome 1:13:10 Moral Paradigm Shifts

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Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

philosophy

Philosophy

history

History

Starting from lecture IV, we will move away from psychology and into Girard’s history, beginning with the very first human societies. In times of internal turmoil, these early societies would converge on an innocent victim, attribute to him all the blame, murder this scapegoat in a brutal killing, and achieve peace through violent catharsis. These founding murders gave rise to institutions, cultures, and even gods themselves. Far are we from the comfort of social contracts. Girard’s unsettling conclusion is that peace is built on the corpses of innocent victims. Worldly order demands violence and deceit.

00:00:00 Introduction
00:04:16 The Trojan War and Reciprocal Violence
00:13:51 Oedipus and the Scapegoat Mechanism
00:15:23 Step One: Mimetic Contagion
00:25:06 Step Two: Founding Murder
00:29:22 Consensus, Deceit, and Catharsis
00:36:04 Three Marks of the Victim
00:41:18 Step Three: Divinization
00:46:30 A Revaluation of Values
00:51:26 Step Four: Institutionalization
01:03:33 The Violent Foundations of Society
01:06:39 The Hymn of Purusha
1:10:20 The Founding of Rome
1:13:10 Moral Paradigm Shifts

If I were not Diogenes, I wish I were Alexander.

René Girard's Mimetic Theory - Lecture 3&4

Democracy as a cathartic ritual

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CURATOR'S NOTE

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